Integrity Ministries Pastor Ernest Fisher received an approval for his rezoning request to turn 18.75 acres of land on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard into a church and multipurpose center at Monday’s city council meeting.

Kinston mayor B.J. Murphy said the work of Fisher and the congregation in the community made it very easy to accept the request.

“Pastor Fisher has been highly engaged with the needs of our citizens for more than a decade,” Murphy said. “He and his church have proven they are committed to the success of Kinston, and their zoning request seemed to compliment the area they want to build a new church in.”

Fisher said he was excited and blessed with the approval.

“I think it was ordained by God for us to build a church and multipurpose center in the area,” Fisher said. “Integrity Community Development Center will do multiple things, and we’ll have tent meetings either in the late summer or early fall. The members have been very passionate, confessing and speaking on this for years.

“Some people saw it as an impossible task because of the negativity in the area, but we continued to persevere and stay focused in getting there. The good Lord gives us all seasons of blessings, and when your seasons are at hand, you must walk.”

Jimmy Cauthen, a deacon at Integrity Ministries, said there have been plans on the land since 2006.

When they decided they wanted to go through the process, we had to start the hard way,” Cauthen said. “We were rezoned without anyone telling us, so we went through it again. I’m glad we were able to make it happen.”

The council also approved a text amendment on a sign ordinance, giving agencies more freedom to advertise.

“We came to a mutual agreement with the amendment, which the agencies and city can live with,” Mayor Pro Tem Joe Tyson said. “The city wants to be business friendly. In the amendment, we’ve created greater allowances for nonprofit organizations on any property with permission from property owners, standardized board regulations for all community districts, increased the allotment of temporary signs from 28 days to 90 in a 365-day period and clarified location requirements.”

The council did deny a request for a tattoo parlor on West Vernon Avenue. The request included an exemption of a safe zone, with residents and children near the facility.

“You have a dancing studio right next to where the parlor would be and there’s an after-school program in the neighborhood,” Tyson said. “We put this policy in play to prevent agencies and business of a certain nature to operate by churches, schools, residential complexes are where children congregate. I don’t have anything against parlors.”

Page 2 of 2 - Murphy said another important portion of the meeting included the Lenoir County transportation committee priorities in reference to road construction.

“I’m pleased to report three of their top five priorities were related to the Quad East concept and the Carey Road extension,” Murphy said. “What that means for Kinston is we’re potentially able to have more residential and commercial growth, as well as having emergency vehicles respond more quickly to the city,” he said.

The next city council meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 2.

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.